Exploring Arran by van!

Monday, August 17, 2016 (date in journal)

  We closed out our Sunday while sipping on tea, snuggling up to the cozy fire, and enjoying pleasant conversation. Birds sang, crickets chirped, casting a spell of dreaminess over our sweet little cottage.  Sleep came easily in such a place.

   Unfortunately, by the next morning Bob was feeling a bit under the weather and chose to remain at the cottage. Bobby, Maridith, the boys and myself meanwhile gathered the necessary items for an explore. The island is small, so a days drive would reveal much of God's artistry in a short amount of time.

   It was a startling experience to drive over the island of Arran and find ourselves on roads that wound in and around mountains! I have been on an island before but it did not have mountains. Just seems to me like you aught to have vast expanses of land to have room for mountains, however, not so on Arran. But after all they do refer to Arran as Scotland in minature.

  The mountains here and on the mainland don't have a lot of trees. I wondered about that, so when I got home I did a little research and here's what I found:

The ancient Caledonian Forest once covered the Scottish Highlands. Home to bears, beavers, and wolves, its destruction began before the Bronze Age. The forest began to fall to the scythe of climate change and the activities of primitive tribes from pre-Roman times. Subsequent terror campaigns launched by marauding Vikings burned down large areas of forest. Later, farmers and fuel gatherers cleared away most of what remained.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0207_030207_scotforest.html

 

   There is a lot of reforestation going on to try and reclaim the forest Scotland lost. But I discovered an advantage to not having a thick forest covering the mountains, for those spectacular panoramic views were always in sight! So, in time, the forest will be restored and there will always be a way to see beyond the trees, I'm sure.

   In the picture below you will see a rocky little stream running happily down the mountain. I am partial to  clear rocky streams for they offer a chance to get my feet wet. I do love wading, but this time I grabbed a photo instead.

               




This might be what they refer to as a floxglove. I saw them growing in abundance everywhere it seemed. Exquisite! They really dress up and ordinary landscape.












While there were cows and a few horses grazing in pastures (one of my favorite of scenes) more often than not, sheep were to be seen.  I found them to be quite cute. And notice the hay rolls,  covered in black plastic. Here on our farm, the hay rolls are covered in plastic as well, but the color is a sheer green.

 Even old rustic run downed buildings appear uniquely beautiful in this setting.

A sloping hill, draped in soft green grass, with lazy sheep accenting the view. The country gal in me was dazzled.







I think this is enough beauty for the moment. Next time, I will share some pictures of the ocean and a delightful restaurant we visited positioned so as to enjoy the ocean's view.